Everyday Matters: Every Day Matters

One philanthropic trend in the past 15 to 20 years is that of collective giving. Groups of individuals, generally with a commonality—gender and gender identity, race, religion, or specific charitable interest—make individual contributions so that collective charitable grants can be made. This is often thought of as “democratizing philanthropy.” People of modest means and backgrounds can participate financially in benevolence in a way they may not have otherwise thought possible.

National Volunteer Week is celebrated this year from April 15 through April 22. It was established in 1974 and the celebration is currently organized by Points of Light, “the world’s largest organization dedicated to volunteer service.” Each year the impact of the celebration grows, as thousands of projects and events utilizing and acclaiming volunteers take place at this time.

For me, virtually every day starts with a walk with my dog in my neighborhood. It is a quiet place, and I look forward to the sound of the wind in the trees, the scents of the season and the wildlife hustling around me—the deer, shorebirds and squirrels. But the sunrise—oh, the sunrise! It is a daily reminder of the gift of life we’ve been given. A small glow, expanding to a greater light, the intensifying of colors, the glory of it—it marks the start of another day of promise and possibility!

Thanksgiving (the act, not the holiday) can be thought of as “gratitude in action” and is in part sharing what you can with others, and “paying it forward” so to speak, so that others may also feel the happiness of gratitude.

The very word “volunteer” belies the idea of getting paid for the work. Volunteers are, after all, those who perform a service willingly and without pay. They take living generously to a whole new level.

The Lowcountry of South Carolina has been my home since the summer of 2006. While I’m a Midwesterner by birth, I’ve come to adopt and love a number of southern cultural traits. In an email I wrote to cancel meetings when evacuation plans were still up in the air, I referred to Irma as “a rude interruption.” Right then I realized I had embraced the southern penchant for understatement.

A book I read tickled me to no end. It is called F in Exams: Complete Failure Edition, by Richard Benson. It shares true-life, but wrong, student answers to questions on quizzes, exams and other tests. It made me recall that editing software, including spellcheck is now available. It is not perfect, but it helps. Some of the students quoted in the book might have appreciated its availability:

Most people who are familiar with Community Foundation of the Lowcountry probably know us as grantmakers. While we are much, much more than that, we do indeed have a competitive grantmaking process. This is just one of the reasons most nonprofits in our area know us well.